Rehearsal for Heaven

Introduction

You may not realize it, but life is full of rehearsals. When we think of rehearsals what usual comes to mind, at least for me, is practicing of some kind of performance piece. For example, if you had a part in a play, or if you have a musical number to perform.

The actual word “rehearsal” is from on old French root “rehercier,” which means "go over again."

When the First Lady and played in a band we went to lots of rehearsals, mainly because some of us were not very good, and it took a long time to get all the parts worked out to make the music sound like something worth listening to.

But rehearsal goes further than just preparing for a performance. In the military you participate in exercises that are, in reality, a rehearsal for war. When you are about to interview for a new job, you may rehearse in front of mirror what you might say to a prospective boss. It is common for an engaged couple to have a rehearsal before the wedding, but the rehearsal I am talking about today is the most important rehearsal you will ever be a part of, that is your rehearsal for heaven.

We are rehearsing for Heaven. We are rehearsing for eternity. The subject, “Rehearsal for Heaven,” brings to mind three challenges:

The challenge of living for Christ,

the challenge of living like Christ,

and the challenge of living with Christ, and we will take a look at each of these:

The Challenge of Living for Christ

Living for Christ means worship

Psalm 95:1–7 (ESV)

1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand...

If you are living for Christ, it will show in your worship. And of course, worship is not just something that happens on Sunday morning. We should have a worshipful attitude as we go through our day.

Some people go through life with a curse word right on the tip of their tongue. We should have a “Praise the Lord” always on the tip of our tongue ready to slip out at any moment.

Living for Christ also means giving of yourself

Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice. Now that’s a real commitment, that’s not just being involved, that’s a commitment. It’s kind of like when you sit down to enjoy a plate of bacon and eggs, one of my personal favorites. The chicken was involved in that breakfast, but the pig was committed.

Living for Christ means giving of your means

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 (ESV)

6 ... whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

And Jesus on His Sermon on the Mount said;

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be sure that you don’t buy into what the prosperity preachers tell you, you know they call them prosperity preachers because if they are successful, you will make then prosperous. Don’t give thinking that financial riches will come your way because of it. Give because God commands it and because other people, other ministries, other lives will be blessed by it. You will reap spiritual dividends in this live and in the next life with your heavenly Father.

Living for Christ means separation from the world

1 John 2:15–17 (ESV)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Living separate from the world is not an easy thing. The world is full of pretty things that glitter and pull us in. It’s like when you buy that new fishing lure to use at the lake. It has these bright colors painted on it, with a little bit of glitter in the paint. It has this flashy silver spoon on it than shines and makes an attractive noise as it goes through the water. If you are lucky, that old fish will be fooled by the glitter and too late he will discover that there is a hook waiting there to grab him and pull him in.

That is the way of the world. We fall for the glitter and too late we experience the hook.

Living for Christ means sharing the Gospel with others

Mark 5:18–20 (ESV)

18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

If you are here as a child of God, it is because at some point in your life someone shared the Gospel with you. It may have been a preacher, but more likely it was a parent, a relative, or a friend. Now you have the privilege and the responsibility to pass that on to someone else.

We have looked at the challenge of living for Christ, now we will look at;

The Challenge of Living like Christ

Living like Christ means doing what he commands

1 John 5:3 (ESV)

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

John 14:21 (ESV)

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

It is not hard to figure out what God commands. I would guess that most lost people could give a pretty good accounting of what is right in God’s eyes and what is not. The hard part is living that out in our everyday lives. The nice thing about it is, the more you practice it, the more you rehearse, the easier it gets. And practice covers a lot of ground, worship, prayer, many of the things we are talking about today.

Living like Christ means dying to self

John 12:25 (ESV)

25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Self is a driving force in today’s society. It is the “me” generation. It is the “you do you” generation. Doing your own thing is the mantra of society, but dying to self is the mantra of godliness.

Living like Christ means being filled with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:18 (ESV)

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

It is no accident that Paul chose these words. You see someone who is filled with wine exhibits a different spirit from their natural state.

Maybe that’s why alcohol is sometimes referred to as spirits. Some people believe Aristotle is responsible for naming of alcohol as spirits. Aristotle wrote in 327 BC that drinking a distilled beer or wine put ‘spirits’ into the body of the drinker.”

The drunkard is controlled by those spirits he has taken into his body. His actions are not the same when under the influence of those alcoholic spirits. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit then we are controlled by that Spirit that is from God and our actions will not be the same as the worldly person who has not the Spirit of the Lord within them.

Living like Christ means praying

Matthew 7:7–8 (ESV)

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–17 (ESV)

16 Rejoice always,

17 pray without ceasing,

This one is kind of like what I talked about before, about always having a praise on the tip of your tongue. You should always have a prayer foremost in your thoughts. Now I am a firm believer in having a prayer closet. Somewhere you can go where it is quite and there are no distractions where you can have a private time with God. But that is not the only place you can pray.

You can pray on a crowded bus. You can pray in line at Wal-Mart. I have no doubt that a lot of prayers have went up from inside airplanes. The point is, it is important to have that constant communication with God in our daily lives.

Think of how often you may check your email or check social media, we should be checking in with God even more often.

We have looked at the challenge of living for Christ and the challenge if living like Christ, now we come to;

The Challenge of Living with Christ

Living with Christ involves looking for His second coming

John 14:1–3 (ESV)

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Living with Christ involves refusing to live beneath your position

Here we look again to;

Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Just thing of the enormity of that statement. Sometimes we become so familiar with certain Bible verses that they tend to lose some of their impact on us. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. What a tremendous privilege and what a tremendous responsibility.

Conclusion

So, let me ask you, are you taking your rehearsal seriously, that is, your rehearsal for heaven? Are you;

Living for Christ

Living like Christ

Living with Christ

If you have not been to rehearsal in a while, then you are out of practice. You may be saved, you may be a child of God, but you may have grown weak and ineffective in living for Him.

If so, it’s time to get back into practice. Time to rehearse for our heavenly home.

If you are here today in this building, or in our internet audience, and you don’t have Christ, you are rehearsing for a much different future. That is eternal separation from God.